PHR has been shining a spotlight on human rights violations in Myanmar for more than 15 years. Our most recent work followed a violent August 2017 crackdown by the Myanmar military on minority Rohingya people living in northern Rakhine state, which killed thousands and drove more than 720,000 refugees into neighboring Bangladesh.

This was not the first time that PHR documented atrocities committed against the Rohingya. In 2010, we released an emergency report, “Stateless and Starving; Persecuted Rohingya Flee Burma and Starve in Bangladesh,” detailing the forced internment of Rohingya refugees by the Bangladesh government. The report demonstrated that, among children seeking refuge in Bangladesh, 18 percent suffered from acute malnutrition.

Our investigations have also focused on the rampant persecution of and violence against the Rohingya and other minorities inside Myanmar.

In 2014 and 2015, we revealed how unlawful land confiscations in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone and in Shan state triggered by the government’s economic development projects were having a devastating impact on communities.